The Hindu : New Delhi News : “Corporal punishment accepted way of life”

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 16, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

“Corporal punishment accepted way of life”

Staff Reporter

Teachers and parents admitted to using corporal punishment to discipline the child
The survey was conducted in UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh

NEW DELHI: According to a new study on corporal punishment undertaken by non-government organisation “Plan India” across 41 government schools in four States, corporal punishment is an accepted way of life in schools and homes with children receiving an average of five beatings per day per class and a stick being present in each classroom.

Teachers and parents admitted to using corporal punishment and it was not perceived as a form of violence.

The survey, conducted by interacting with over 1,500 children in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh, revealed that parents, teachers and even children regard corporal punishment as a practice necessary to discipline the child.

Plan India Executive Director Bhagyashri Dengle said: “We wish to reach out to children through this report and sensitise them against corporal punishment. We also want to remove the myth that punishing children is something that can be taken for granted.”

“To reach out to children, sensitise them through a child-friendly format and prevent corporal punishment from happening in schools and homes, we have prepared this report in a comic strip format and compiled it in the form of a comic book,” she added.

The 30-page book has been compiled using the inputs received from children during workshops held in Delhi and UP where children were taught to express and illustrate their ideas relating to corporal punishment, an ideal teacher and an ideal classroom.

Apart from compiling the findings of the research study and illustrating the stories of children, the book throws light on various aspects relating to corporal punishment such as its definition, types, children’s rights and legal provisions including the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000.

Elaborating on the reasons for the high incidence of corporal punishment in the government schools surveyed, Randeep Kaur of Plan India said: “A skewed teacher-student ratio and lack of instructing time to teachers leads them to rush through the syllabus resulting in hitting being used as a crowd-control mechanism. The lack of alternative positive disciplinary actions also contributed to the cause.”

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